Lightning Bugs
by MishaMuse
Summary: This is the original version of my story, Fireflies. I was trying for fluff and it came out darker than I intended. One-shot.


A/N: This is the original version of Fireflies. The version that's listed as Fireflies is a re-cut with a very different ending. I've been hesitant to post it because it's so much darker and more brutal than my usual stuff. It's shorter than the newer version of the story, and you can see that much of it is the same. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story. Oh, and any mistakes/liberties in Punk's family are totally my fault.

Lightning Bugs

"I don't have anywhere else to turn," the woman said. He took in her unhappy posture; head down, defeated. "I wouldn't ask you if I did. I know you're a busy man…"

"Busy hardly describes it," he muttered, looking across the yard at the three year old who was chasing blinking fireflies in the dusk.

"But you're family," she said stubbornly, "and you're the only one I trust with her." The woman raised her head and watched the child, a brief flicker of a smile on her face. "I've already told her she'll probably be staying with you for a few weeks."

"Nice of you to give me a choice," he said sourly. "I've got a job, Anna. They're not going to just let me take a couple weeks off so I can play babysitter."

Anna bit her lip. "You'd rather I take Emma to your folks? Or leave her with her father?"

The girl must've heard her name, because she turned and ran across the lawn, a huge grin on her lips. "Mama! Uncle Phil!" she said, laughing. "I made a friend! Did you see me?"

Anna smiled and scooped up the little girl. "We saw, sweetie. Come on, we'd better get going."

"Where are we going?"

"Home."

The child stiffened in her mother's arms. "B-but you said we were gonna have an adventure. That I was gonna stay here."

"Uncle Phil's busy, sweetie," Anna said, hugging her daughter close. Over the little girl's head, her dark eyes met his. "I was wrong. But it's okay. We'll come visit again soon."

Phil sighed, running his teeth over his lip ring as he studied the two of them. "You want to stay, Emma?" he asked. The little girl nodded so hard that her body shook with the motion. "Well, maybe one night won't hurt."

"Yay!" Emma said, holding her arms out to the man. He hesitated, then took her. Emma threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She beamed.

"I'll call you in the morning," Anna said. "And thank you." Phil shrugged, setting the child down. "Let's go get your bag, Emms."

Emma giggled and ran after her mom to the car. Phil sighed again and went into the house.

%

Emma asked a lot of questions. She pulled half the DVD's down and asked him what they were. He didn't have too many that were kid friendly, but she seemed to have a few of her own. She seemed especially interested in the wrestling Pay Per View DVDs. "Are you in this one?" she asked, handing Phil a DVD. He glanced at it and nodded. "What about this one? This one?"

"I'm in most of them," he said.

"Can I see?"

"I don't think your mom would like that much, Emma."

The little girl pouted. "She lets me watch you on TV sometimes."

Phil frowned. "She does?"

Emma nodded. "I liked it when you sang to Rey Mysterio's daughter. You're funny, uncle Phil."

Phil thought back to that particular night. "Most people said scary."

Emma giggled. "Bears are scary. You're funny. But you're fuzzy like a bear." She touched his beard.

"Hey!" He growled.

Emma shrieked and took off, running and laughing. "You can't catch me, mean uncle bear!"

He stared after her for a moment before getting to his feet and giving chase throughout the house. He finally caught her in the kitchen and lifted her up, still laughing and shrieking, and carried her to the living room again. Then he plopped her down on the couch. "Ha. Got you."

She grinned. "Will you watch a movie with me?"

"Sure. But you pick one of yours. I don't think I have any good ones."

She gave the DVDs in her bag a serious look before selecting Beauty and the Beast. "This is a good one."

"Oh?"

"Yep! It's my very favorite! Except for maybe the Little Mermaid."

"Okay then," he said. "Good enough for me." He put the DVD in the player and they settled on the couch, with Emma leaning against him. Before the movie was half over, she was asleep. Phil stared down at his niece and shook his head, smiling. The kid was a fireball. He picked her up and carried her to the guest room, making sure to leave the door open and the hall light on when he left.

%

At first, he wasn't sure what woke him. He mentally checked himself over, to see if anything hurt. Nope. That wasn't it. A scream broke through the room, electrifying. Phil jumped out of bed, heart pounding. Another scream echoed through the house, and he was off like a shot. By the time he reached the guest bedroom, another scream was shattering the night. "Emma?" he asked, snapping the light on.

"Uncle Phil!" She jumped from the bed and rocketed toward him, burying her head against his stomach, heartbreaking sobs shaking her little body.

"Hey, kid," he said, pulling her toward the bed and sitting down. She crawled into his lap. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I w-woke up and and i-it was d-dark and I-I…" She buried her head against him again. "I d-didn't know where you were!"

He frowned, stroking her hair. "I'm sorry."

Emma gave him a scared look. "You left me alone! You can't do that!"

"I was in my room," he said, smoothing her hair back. "It's next to this one, remember?"

"But you said to stay out of there," she said, "and I didn't know where you were!"

Phil sighed and hugged her. "Sorry, Emma."

"What if someone tried to hurt me?" she whispered.

He gave the little girl an uneasy look. "No one is allowed to hurt you," he finally said. "Not here. Not ever."

She looked up at him, eyes wide and trusting. "Promise?"

"Promise," he said.

Emma bit her lip. "Okay. Do you have a night light?"

"No," he said, "but I'll leave the door open and the light on, okay?"

"Will you stay here?"

Phil sighed. "I have to sleep in my room, Emma. But tell you what. I'll leave my door open and if you get scared again, you can come in there and sleep, okay?"

"Can I come in there and sleep now?"

Phil stared down at her little tear streaked face and felt his heart breaking at the hopeful look in her eyes. "Sure."

Emma smiled and clapped her hands. "Yay! Thank you!" And then she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed. "I like staying with you, uncle Phil."

%

Phil was up early the next morning, going about his usual routine. In truth, he hadn't slept well. Emma hogged the bed and kicked as though she'd been studying martial arts herself. He was about to doze off when there was a knock at the door. Grumbling, Phil checked the clock. Barely after eight. He opened the door and stiffened instantly. On the doorstep were Anna and the one person he'd sworn he'd never speak to again. "Where's my daughter?" his brother asked.

"Asleep." He glanced past the man to Anna, who was sporting a black eye. "Did you do that?"

"None of your damned business! Go get my kid."

Emma chose that minute to enter the room, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Uncle Phil…"

"Emma," Mike Brooks snapped at his daughter. "Come here right now."

Emma stopped, eyes huge as she looked at her father. "D-daddy?"

"Right now." The words were soft, menacing. "Or else."

Emma looked terrified. Phil turned away from the sight of his niece to his brother. "You don't have to scare her."

"Shut up," the man growled. "Emma, get your ass over here now."

Phil shook his head. Anna said, "It's okay, baby. Daddy's not mad at you. He's mad at me." She met Phil's eyes, desperation shining in hers again. In a low voice, she said, "Go get her, Phil."

Mike turned on his wife and backhanded her, causing Emma to scream. Phil turned to see his niece, and then his brother was trying to push past him. "You promised!" Emma screamed, and that was all it took.

Phil grabbed his brother and hauled him outside. "I'll be right back, Emma," he said, and he closed the door between the little girl and himself.

"You'd better give me my kid," Mike said.

"Or what?" Phil asked, his fists closing. "You'll beat on me? You forget who you're talking to, Mike."

Mike smirked. "She's my daughter, not yours. You can't keep me from getting her back."

"Yeah, I can," Phil said. "She's terrified of you. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you take that little girl."

"You think you're some kind of hero, huh?" Mike said, smirking. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you."

"I'll be back with the police," Mike said, turning.

"Fine," Phil answered. Before he'd gotten the word completely out, his brother turned and swung. Phil had been half expecting it and managed to take it as a glancing blow to the temple rather than a shot to the nose. He was on his brother in an instant, not hitting but carefully disabling him. "I don't want to hurt you."

"That makes one of us." Mike snapped his head back, impacting Phil's nose. Already, he could feel the blood, sliding down his throat.

Phil turned his head and spit. "If you want to take her home, Anna," he said, looking up at his sister in law, "then go and get her. I can't stop you. But if you don't want to, then call the police, because I'm going to press charges."

Anna stared at him. For a moment, Phil had a sinking feeling that she might grab her daughter and run, but she edged close and grabbed the cell phone he'd dropped and started to dial. "You bitch! I'll kill you!" Mike screamed.

Phil sighed and pressed his brother against the ground and waited for the sirens.

%

He'd used his shirt to blot the blood from his nose as the police took his brother away. He didn't want to scare Emma when he went back in the house. She was sobbing when he and Anna entered. "Poor kid," Anna said, scooping her up. "Come on, sweetie. Let's get you a bath." It was then that Phil saw the kid had been so terrified, she'd had an accident. Emma's huge eyes stared at him in fear.

"It's okay," he said. "Go have a bath. There's a container of bubbles under the sink." The words were muffled and smiling at her hurt, but Emma managed a weak smile back, and that was good.

When the little girl was clean and dry and dressed, Anna sat her down for Beauty and the Beast, then headed for the kitchen. Phil followed. "Are you all right?"

Anna took a breath. "He'll be out in a day, Phil. Two at the most. And then it'll happen again. I can't… I can't keep her safe. I can't even keep myself safe." Her eyes filled with tears. "Not yet. But you can. It won't be for long. A month. Maybe two."

Phil thought about the little girl's terror. "Where will you go?"

She looked down at her shaking hands. "I've got a friend in L.A. that's promised I can stay with her for a few weeks while I get this straightened out. He won't be able to find me. And you can bring Emma out when I've got a place…" She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Or I'll come and get her and we'll change our names and be out of your life forever, if that's what you want."

Phil sighed. "Let me call work and see if I can do it."

%

That night, after he and Emma had put Anna on a plane to California, Phil stopped at the store and let his niece help him get foods she'd eat. He put away the groceries at home and cooked her macaroni and cheese for dinner, then he sat her down with a cartoon while he disappeared to work on something. When bedtime rolled around, Phil carried the sleepy child to the guest room and set her on the bed. "What if I get scared?" she asked, brow furrowing. "We didn't get a night light."

Phil smiled and said, "No, but I've got something even better. I asked your friend the firefly what to do." He leaned over and plugged in the strand of Christmas lights that he'd pulled out of the storage room and turned to see the amazement on the little girl's face.

"Indoor fireflies?" she asked, her eyes full of wonder.

"Yep."

Emma grinned and hugged him as tight as she could. "Thank you, uncle Phil."

"You're welcome, kiddo," he said, ruffling her hair affectionately. "Get some sleep, okay?"

She nodded, then bit her lip. "Uncle Phil?"

"What, sweetie?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

Emma yawned. "For keeping me safe."

Phil hugged her tightly. "I promised, remember?"

"Not now. Not ever," she said, smiling as her eyes drifted closed. "You promised."

Phil stood up and headed for the door. He paused at the entry, turning to see that the little girl was already asleep. "Goodnight, little firefly," he murmured with a smile.


End file.
